


of brothers and sisters and robins and death

by anakatieskywalker



Series: Stephanie Brown, Third Robin [10]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:47:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25700845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anakatieskywalker/pseuds/anakatieskywalker
Summary: Damian died as Robin, and it might be time for someone else to return to Gotham. After all, the past waits for no one.
Series: Stephanie Brown, Third Robin [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858975
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	of brothers and sisters and robins and death

When word travels back to the league that Damian’s dead, Steph accidentally lets her rage get the best of her. She kills three of the assassins she’s been training with before the fiery green recedes back to the edges of her mind. Not that killing isn’t allowed or even frowned upon there, it’s considered a normal risk with being in the League. Especially around her, but she feels dirty afterwards. No matter how much Talía says it’s okay.

A part of her soul aches every time she takes a life, it’s part of whatever it is she can’t seem to truly remember. She looks down at the bodies surrounding her, Steph had been a bodyguard and a training partner for Damian back before he went to live with his father. 

He’d had a calming effect on her, something about his abrasive exterior hiding the heart of gold the kid seemed to have, it pulled her back from the green of the Lazarus pit in her mind. There was a connection between her and the child that it took her too long to categorize, he was like her little brother. Of course finding out about his death would be a crack in the dam that held back the flood of rage in her mind.

Damian had gone to his father a year ago, but he had talked about the great warrior Batman before that. How his mother said his father would be proud of his training. 

The nights after Damian would talk about the Batman, Steph’s head would pound and her nightmares would end with her waking up, screams being ripped out of her throat. 

She thought back to those nights, trying to remember the last time she had a conversation like that with Damian when something clicked in place in her mind, a puzzle piece she hadn’t understood before. Steph abandoned the training center, and the bodies in favor of searching the compound for Talía. 

When she finds the woman, her chest aches with the possibilities, but she waits until they are alone to ask.

“I was Robin. Wasn’t I?”

Talía goes still, disturbingly so. So Steph continues, “I lived in Gotham, I was Robin before you found me. That’s how I died, isn’t it?”

“Are you sure you want to know the answers to your questions?” Talía had yet to look her in the eyes.

“You know better than anyone that I wouldn’t ask otherwise.” Steph’s hands are clenched, and for the first time in a long time, she can feel her nerves practically standing on end as she awaits her answer.

“Yes, you were Robin, and you died because some insane man decided killing a sixteen year old girl trying to do good was the right course of action.”

She feels like she’s been punched in the stomach, as Talía continues talking. “And then a month after you were laid to rest, somehow you fought your way out of the ground. I picked you up because no one in that city would be able to properly attend to you and your wounds.”

Steph’s heard that part before, Talía’s never held back in informing Stephanie that without her, the girl would likely have died again rather quickly. She had been a husk of a child then, the things that made up the essence of Stephanie Brown inaccessible.

“Damian was Robin too. Right?”

Talía’s lips are pursed, like she’s trying to figure out what Steph’s getting at. The woman’s not dumb, though, and Steph would be surprised if she didn’t already have an idea of where she was going with this line of questioning.

“Yes, my son was Robin. It was his birthright.”

Some small part of Steph had hoped she wouldn’t be right, that Damian hadn’t been Robin. But Gotham’s only so big, and there’s only one Batman in the world.

She steals herself before asking her last question, “Were we killed by the same person?” If they were, Steph knows what she should do, what she has to do based on the weird moralistic nature of the League. She would have to hunt the man down and kill him, for a crime committed against her that she can’t even remember yet.

“No, your… brother went against Batman's no kill rule and took care of that man. As well as some others in Gotham.”

A brother, an actual living connection to her past. That was news. Although not completely surprising, she remembered that there were others on the rooftops at night. Who they were though, that escaped her still.

“Talía, I want to go to Gotham.” Steph’s mind was made up, she and Damian may not have been killed by the same man, but they both were tied to Gotham. And Steph needed to remember how.

The older woman raised an eyebrow in questioning, “You believe this to be the best course of action?”

“I believe it’s the only course of action. I need to find out what happened to Damian, how another Robin could die. I also need to try and remember my own past, figure out who I was...who I am.” Steph glanced down at her hands, there were so many unknowns, so much of her life shrouded by the things that had happened to her, and the waters of the pit.

It’s been two years, clearly staying with the League wasn’t going to help her answer any of those questions. She just needed Talía’s blessing to leave.

“And the pit madness, you think you have control of it now?”

Steph thought back to the three bodies in the training room, how fast the green had receded from her mind. If she kept a level head and a skeptical mind, she ought to be able to avoid such emotional outbursts.

“For the most part, yes.”

Talía crossed the room, placing her hands on Steph’s shoulders. It was a moment of intimacy that she normally wasn’t allowed to show with others around. Talía was like a second mother to her at this point, having rescued her from the streets, restored her health, and helped train her to keep the pit madness down, going against her father’s orders.

“Then you may go, I’ll make sure you have the money and the resources to find what you are looking for. Just remember, Batman has already ostracized one child for being willing to kill, but we will always accept you back. Regardless of what you may find waiting for you in Gotham, _habibi_.”

Steph nodded her understanding, and then took her leave. She needed to pack, it was time to return to where it all began. It was time for her to go to Gotham.

**Author's Note:**

> pls note that it's my understanding that habibi means baby or my darling, and that i've commonly seen it used in the fandom as a term of endearment that talia would use.
> 
> [hit me up on tumblr!!](https://thatsuperherosidekick.tumblr.com/)


End file.
